CARE PACKAGES ARE WELCOME
FUNDING for aged care and childcare schemes were key issues in the federal budget for some North Queensland residents.
Self-funded retiree George Ioannou, of Idalia, said he was grateful for some of the bigspending initiatives but worried about how they would be paid back.
“I welcome the extra funding in aged care, as l have an elderly mother and an elderly mother-in-law who are in aged care,” Mr Ioannou said.
“I would have preferred to see some additional infrastructure funding for up this way, particularly around water security, which I think is a big issue, particularly for Townsville.
“I’m also concerned about the level of spending on top of the billions of stimulus that the government has already put in which might lead to the Reserve Bank bringing forward increases in interest rates. That may adversely affect the large number of first homeowners who just got into the market.”
Mackay accountant
Lauren Dark welcomed the government’s funding boost for childcare.
She said the changes were huge for her family as her husband worked away at the mines and she also worked.
”We have two kids who are in daycare, aged two and four,” Ms Dark said.
“Because we’re in a higher earning bracket, the childcare subsidies are not always adequate and we end up paying just about as much as what my income is, if I work part-time.
“My husband is a boilermaker so he’ll be able to claim money back on tools so that could possibly be a benefit to us as well.”